The past year has undoubtedly been one of the most challenging in history for employers. Between attempting to keep workforces employed, to balancing the books, to keeping customers and clients safe and healthy, businesses of all sizes have faced one challenge after another. When remote work became near universal in many industries, some employers began […]
The prevention of workplace harassment has evolved in recent years from liability avoidance to cultural improvement and incident prevention. In order to facilitate cultural change, it is necessary to offer the workforce an education program that goes far beyond what is required for legal compliance. The issue of harassment has evolved from the pure legal […]
There were more than 6,600 incidents of hate and discrimination directed at Asian-American individuals and individuals of Pacific Islander descent in the last year. The rise in incidents is attributable to false blame for the COVID-19 pandemic. Employers would be wise to re-examine their policies to ensure there is zero-tolerance for hateful behavior directed at […]
By March 23, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had ground the economy nearly to a halt, people were (and still are) terrified.
For years a symbol of sex and male fantasy, the empire built by executives at lingerie powerhouse Victoria’s Secret has always carried a certain mystique in the popular culture lexicon. But as changing views of women’s bodies and enhanced scrutiny on the objectification of females both inside and out of the workplace are commonplace, the […]
Few industries have a greater history of machoism and exploitation of female employees than commercial aviation. Looking back throughout history, you find female flight attendants outfitted in short skirts, pilots bragging about their conquests in various destinations, and an overall attitude of cockpit disrespect toward flight crew. A recent lawsuit filed by a female flight […]
This massive settlement illustrates the depth of issues a business can face when it allows discrimination and harassment to exist in its organization.
In 2018, New York enacted sweeping legislation requiring employers to train nearly all employees that work in that State. While it is likely employers are still scrambling to meet these new requirements, the 2019 legislative session shows no signs of New York slowing down its efforts to eradicate offensive behavior from its workplaces. Lawmakers […]
Much ink has been spilled debating the effectiveness of legalistic (and formulaic) anti-harassment training. Nearly everyone agrees that grouping employees in a room with a 1980’s era VCR/television combination unit and playing a video recorded by a corporate lawyer with little or no training on preventive practice is the wrong way to conduct harassment training, […]
Few areas of harassment training draw more confusion than cases involving third parties. Employers are left wondering what they can, and should, be doing to protect their employees from harassment that originates via contact with those outside the organization. Hewitt vs. BS Transportation, a recent case decided in the United States District Court for the […]
